Researchers have made several attempts to develop an “artificial placenta” over the past 50 years, but with very limited success. The lamb fetuses were also enclosed in a liquid environment where they could swallow and breathe fluid to mimic the animal’s natural life in the womb as closely as possible.Īccording to the study, as the limit of viability has extended back further, the total number of patients with severe complications from being born earlier is actually increasing, and the problem is not going away.
Eight baby lambs born extremely premature have successfully developed for four weeks in “Biobags” of temperature-controlled sterile fluid - a revolutionary innovation in the world of neonatal intensive care that produced superior results to all current incubator technology.īut along with the medical potential of these “artificial wombs,” some observers question the moral implications of such scientific advances, noting they could negatively impact the institution of motherhood.Ī study published in Nature Communication describes how the team of researchers at the Center for Fetal Research at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHoP) developed an “extra-uterine” system that used the fetal lamb’s own heartbeat to generate blood flow and an oxygenating circuit attached to the lamb’s umbilical cord vessels to connect to an external gas exchange unit similar to an artificial placenta.
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